When implementing ERP in your organization, as a training manager, you might think about e-learning as a training platform considering its numerous benefits. But what next? How do you ensure you chose the right method to deliver your content? How do you ensure your end-users retain the complex steps involved? How do you assess their comprehension? How can you make the best use of the e-learning platform for each phase of ERP end-user training? I know how you can do all these. Let me show you how.

Demonstrate with Videos

According to a White Paper by Cisco, 80% of the world’s Internet traffic will be videos by 2019. They are one of the cost-effective ways to deliver information. As you need to deliver different types of information in ERP end-user training, videos can be used an aid here.

As part of change management, you can record videos of senior level managers talking about the importance of the ERP implementation and how it is going to affect the day-to-day work of employees. Also, instead of paying the trainer again and again for the same session for different batches, you can record a session once and add it to the e-learning course. You can also deliver step-by-step software tutorials to demonstrate the different functions of the ERP. End-users can also save these videos to watch them later.

Lynda.com, a popular online video tutorial company with more than 2 million subscribers, offers thousands of videos on software application training. The number of subscribers is enough to show how effective videos can be.

Educate with Software Training Simulations

For complex software such as ERP, just demonstration of functions might not be enough. You will need to educate end-users on the step-by-step process and provide practice exercises to ensure they do not commit mistakes. But as the ERP would still be in the customization stage, you can consider delivering software training simulations. These mimic the look and feel of the software and provide hands-on experience of working on the software. End-users first watch the steps involved, they are then asked to try the steps under guidance, and then allowed to do it all by themselves. This is known as the Watch-Try-Do methodology. It allows learners explore the software in a risk-free, virtual environment and commit fewer mistakes after go-live.

Haworth, an office furniture manufacturer, used simulations to train their 800 end-users on the new ERP SAP 6.0.

Evaluate with Interactive Assessments

To assess practical application, simple multiple choice questions might not be enough. You will need to assess end-users in an interactive way. How can do that? You can provide real-life scenarios where the end-users need to perform different functions on the ERP. Following these scenarios, you can provide simulations which allow end-users perform the task needed in the scenario. If the end-user fails to perform the task, he can be guided to the Watch-Try-Do simulation of that particular function so that he can take a look at it again. Such interactive assessments ensure end-users are assessed on the things necessary for their day-to-day work rather than theory.

This is how you can make the best use of e-learning as a platform in each phase of ER end-user training. Demonstrate the importance of ERP implementation and its different features with videos, educate on the step-by-step procedures with software training simulations, and evaluate end-users’ comprehension with interactive assessments.